


Impulse Purchase

by Vilakins



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: trope_bingo, Episode: s04e07 Assassin, Gen, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6549415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vilakins/pseuds/Vilakins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avon gets sold twice, three slaves get freed, and some get what they deserve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impulse Purchase

**Author's Note:**

> Trope: slave fic

"I bid seven hundred vems," the powerful-looking woman said, eying Avon as if he was her first meal in a month. She slowly licked her lips.

Benos grinned at Avon's faint look of outrage. "Don't worry, the price'll go up. You're just the sort the ladies bid on."

Now was his chance while Benos wasn't looking. Nebrox made a break for it and threw himself in front of the woman, grasping her knees. "You don't want him, lady! Take me!"

She leaned back in disgust and kicked him away.

"I'm stronger than I look. Won't let you down, I promise!"

Benos grabbed him by one thin arm and hauled him to his feet, providing Nebrox with the opportunity to lift the fancy bracelet Avon wanted. "Ya silly old bugger," Benos growled, yanking him back to his place. "Stay there and don't move or I'll shoot ya. No skin off my nose."

Behind Benos's back, Nebrox briefly showed Avon the bracelet before pushing it up his sleeve out of sight. He'd have to think up some way of getting the thing to Avon or he was for the chop for being unsaleable. Perhaps he could throw it, but Avon was looking at the woman who was running a finger down the side of his face with a cat-got-the-cream smile, and Avon was smiling back.

Nebrox sighed. Avon had been interested in the woman when he'd told her about her. They probably knew each other. Maybe she was his way off.

Where did that leave Nebrox? In the mangon to say the least.

 

* * *

 

"Avon ought to have called in by now," Dayna said.

Via shrugged. "Maybe he couldn't find Servalan. Or they locked him up. They didn't look very a welcoming lot."

"Then he'd have asked for teleport." Dayna crossed to the comms. "Avon? Scorpio calling."

"Oh!" said a voice which wasn't Avon's. "Ah. So it's a communication device."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Nebrox."

"What're knee-brocks?" Vila asked with interest over Dayna's shoulder.

"It's my name. Look, Avon promised he'd get me out of here if I got this bracelet back for him. What about it?"

"Never mind that," Dayna said, "where's Avon?"

"Just got sold, and he seems quite happy about it. I've got the bracelet and he said he'd get me out. He _promised_."

"But you didn't get it back to him, did you. _You've_ got it."

"Oh, come on, Dayna," Vila cut in. "Let's teleport him. At least he can tell us what's going on."

 

* * *

 

Nebrox looked around wildly. "What the—"

"Teleport." Dayna stepped up close to Nebrox. "Cutting to the chase, what happened to Avon?"

"Told you, bought as a slave." Nebrox recoiled from Dayna's furious look. "Don't worry; it was the woman he said he knew. The one he was interested about for visiting the black ship."

"We saw a black ship leave," Tarrant said. "It wouldn't take us long to catch up with it."

"But Servalan's got Avon!"

"Why can't we do both?" Vila inserted Orac's key. "I've got an idea if Orac can manage something."

"Of course I can," Orac said snippily.

Dayna's lip curled. " _You've_ got an idea."

"Not always, you can't," Vila said to Orac. "This might be a challenge." He winked at the others.

"Well, make it snappy, you two," Tarrant said, then turned to Nebrox. "In the meantime, tell us everything you can remember."

"Done it," said Vila with satisfaction as Nebrox was winding up. "It'll need someone Servalan's never met before, though."

"That of course would be me," Soolin said.

"And me." Dayna stood up. "I have unfinished business with Servalan.

Tarrant shrugged. "Makes sense. That leaves Vila and me to chase after the black ship. Not that Vila will be much use—"

"Oh, thanks very much!"

"—but at least he can fly which means either of us can get back with Scorpio to pick you up."

 

* * *

 

"Two thousand vems seems a little inadequate," Avon said.

"Oh, but Avon, I had other plans for you and your motley crew, much cheaper ones considering it was a bulk payment for all five. This just happened to be an impulse buy. I simply couldn't resist."

"I can. I think you'll find I don't make a very satisfactory slave, Servalan."

Servalan shot a glance sideways at Verlis, but she was too involved in checking payments with her assistant to have noticed the name. "You're my slave. Therefore you will call me 'mistress'." She ran a hand through Avon's hair.

"Is that all? Rather a comedown from the long list of fanciful titles you once claimed. _Sleer_." Avon smiled one of his discomforting smiles. "Such an unattractive and pedestrian name. I shall use that."

Servalan snatched her hand back. "You're in my power. I own you. I can make you do what I wish."

Avon raised an eyebrow. "How? By whipping me perhaps?"

"As stimulating as that sounds, I should hate to damage the goods." Servalan leaned back, smiling. "One word. Adjustment."

Avon hid the sudden horror he felt. "Ah, but won't that take all the fun out of it?"

"Not at all." Servalan waved a languid hand. "Of course you may pall after a while. I would probably make a profit on-selling you. You seem to be a model that's rather in demand."

"Commissioner Sleer!" Verlis snapped. "I don't care who you are, but no one gets free slaves from me."

Servalan turned, outraged. "I paid! You saw the payment come in."

"And I've just seen it reversed."

"Don't be ridiculous. If I had wanted to cheat you, I should have waited until I was well away from here."

"The man goes back on the market. And you—" Verlis beckoned Benos over, "—will as well."

Benos, furious at the unexplained disappearance of the old man when he wasn't looking, ran forward eagerly with shackles.

"You're trying to cheat me!" Servalan said, outraged. "You're just extracting more money!"

"Why should I do that? I run a very successful business and it would be extremely counter-productive to put potential buyers off by using extortion." Verlis leaned back in her seat and sipped her drink. "Terribly sordid idea."

 

* * *

 

"That's odd." Tarrant frowned at the forward display which showed a stationary black ship. "He seems to have cut all power."

"Could be a trap."

"Our little optimist."

"Well, it could be. Tricky bastards, assassins. And he's got a contract on us."

"Hmm. That's a modified Explorer class. I know the layout. Right, get ready to teleport, Vila. We will set a trap of our own."

"Wonderful," Vila said, resigned. "I can't wait."

 

Vila appeared on the flight deck and immediately nipped forward and placed a slightly shaking clip gun against the back of the pilot's head. "Um, hand up, no sudden moves." He stopped as the pilot slipped sideways out of the chair, revealing itself as a black-clad dummy. "Oh. Marvellous."

"Drop that gun, and hands up, yourself."

Vila complied and turned slowly to see a large, fair, bearded man and a fluffy little blonde whimpering in a corner. "Cancer, I suppose."

"Avon, I presume."

"Wrong, actually."

"You drop _your_ gun," Tarrant said quietly behind Cancer. "Quickly, now."

"Ah. Clever. I assume you're Avon."

"Wrong again."

The fluffy blonde gave a loud, piercing wail. "Oh, oh-oh, I was so _frightened_."

"There, there," Tarrant said gently. "It's all right now. Vila," he snapped, "tie his hands behind his back, then put a bracelet on him." He patted the girl shoulder. "You're safe now."

"Oh, oh, thank you!" She threw herself into Tarrant's arms and sobbed loudly into his tunic while Tarrant's face took on a strangely soft and protective look.

"Who's she, anyway?" asked Vila with interest.

"Piri," she said, muffled by Tarrant's clothes. "I'm Piri. He _bought_ me! He... he said he'd use me to celebrate when he'd done this job." She broke into new sobs.

Vila tilted his head, obscurely puzzled.

"He can't do anything to you now," Tarrant said softly. "Here, put this on. Orac, teleport us back."

 

"Oh, is this your ship?" Piri snuffled and wiped her eyes.

"Yes. Now you sit down there and Vila will make you a nice hot drink." Tarrant set a course back to Domo.

"Oh, I will, will I? Who died and made me your slave?" Vila muttered as he took himself off to the tiny galley. "Speaking of drinks, I might have a nice cold one as well." He took a large swig from his flask, and hit the buttons for one straight and one extra-sweet hot chocolate. That girl looked as if she'd like a lot of sugar. As the mugs filled, he wondered why she bothered him. Maybe it was just that she was so limp and wet when all the woman he knew were strong and tough. Was she playing a part, like he now suspected Kerril had to make him come over all protective (one of Bayban's gun hands wouldn't have been scared of spiders)? Certainly worked on Tarrant.

Vila took the steaming hot chocolates out and gave one to Nebrox and the sweet one to Piri.

"Thank you." She gave him a tremulous smile.

Vila returned it, always a sucker for a pretty (if damp) face to his slight chagrin. "No one's bothered to introduce me, usual story. I'm Vila, that tall streak is Tarrant, and that's Nebrox."

"Oh. Hello, Vila and Nebrox." Piri sniffed and took a sip. "This is very nice. Just how I like it. Where are the rest of the crew?"

"The rest?"

"Well, there are more chairs than you." Piri looked wide-eyed and innocent. "Aren't there more of you?"

"We're just going to pick them up," Tarrant said from his controls. "And then we'll deal with Cancer and see what we can do for you and Nebrox."

"That's nice." Piri gave another little sob and wiped her eyes. "I feel so safe with you."

"And you are," Nebrox said. "We'll soon see the colour back in your pretty cheeks."

Vila tilted his head. Come to think of it, why weren't they all blotchy and red from all that crying?

"Thank you. You're so very kind." Piri began crying again. "I'm still scared, though." She took a shaky breath. "Why did you bring _him_ on board too? He'll kill all of you, then—" she wailed, "—and then he'll come for _meeee_."

"Nebrox'll look after you," Vila said hastily. "And just as well too, because I'm going right off you." He edged over to Tarrant's chair. "Look, it doesn't make _sense_ ," he said quietly.

"It never does, to you."

"No, I mean, why would Servalan buy Piri for Cancer?"

"I'd have thought that would be obvious, even to you, Vila."

"Yes, but why wold _Servalan_ buy her? And get her to the ship all secretly like Nebrox said so no one could see her? Cancer could go and buy a slave himself. It doesn't make sense that he'd get Servalan to do it."

"Perhaps Cancer didn't want to be seen by anyone."

"Still doesn't explain it. And let's face it, Servalan doesn't run errands." Vila sat down in the chair next to Tarrant's. "Why was it so important that no one could see either of them?"

Tarrant sighed. "Does it matter?"

"The whole thing would make sense if..." Vila stood up. "If they were buying a decoy."

"And they were. Cancer frightened poor Piri into hysterics so that she would be a distraction."

"No. I mean, Nebrox said Servalan bought an entertainer. What if it was an _actor_..." Thoughtfully, Vila looked back at Piri who was trembling in the circle of Nebrox's avuncular arm. The light twinkled on something silvery as she shivered, and Vila realised one of the things that had been bothering him. "Um, Tarrant? You know how Scorpio is one of those things, signs that superstitious people think affect them depending on where in the Earth's orbit they were born?"

"Yes. The zodiac."

"And it's a scorpion. And Cancer is a crab."

"Your point? Cancer has one on his tunic."

Vila's voice rose in excitement. "Well, Piri's got a brooch that looks like a crab."

Piri, who had been watching them closely while Nebrox comforted her, leaped to her feet and furiously threw the brooch at Vila. It transformed into a mechanical spider as it flew, legs unfolding. Vila dodged, startled, then booted the thing straight back towards Piri, who yelped as it hit her, then howled in anguish.

"Surprising how the old football skills kick in, so to speak," Vila said, then stared in horror as Piri writhed, screaming in agony, then stopped in mid-scream.

The mechanical spider dropped onto the floor and started towards Nebrox. Tarrant fired, disintegrating it.

"Good shot," Vila said shaken.

"You didn't do badly yourself."

Vila couldn't help it; he grinned proudly. "Striker in the Level Five Lasers FC."

 

* * *

 

Servalan stared, appalled, at the shackles in Benos's hands. "I don't know what has happened, but I can pay whatever you want. Name your price."

"It will probably just disappear again." A young blonde woman emerged from those watching these interesting developments. "In fact I know it would."

"What has any of this got to do with you?" Servalan demanded, then was distracted by Benos grabbing her right ankle and snapping irons on it. "How _dare_ you! What are you doing?"

"Obvious, innit." Benos had her by the other ankle. "Struggle," he said calmly, "and I'll just tip you over. Now gimme your hands. I'd rather not damage the merchandise."

The young woman ignored all that. "Trader Verlis, my name is Soolin and I am the agent for several people who have been taken in and cheated by this so-called Commissioner Sleer. You could name any price and she'd agree to it, but the money wouldn't be in your account very long." She smiled coldly at Servalan. "The software you set up appears to have a glitch. I believe a few hours is the usual time the payment reversal takes."

"And where does that leave me?" Verlis asked indignantly. "I can put this slave up for auction again, but I'm unlikely to get anything near two thousand."

"No problem. I will transfer the money to you right now and take him off your hands. Now where did I put my slave bracelet? Ah, here it is." Soolin clipped a teleport bracelet onto Avon's wrist. "And you have a new item you have in stock you might get a good price for."

"Oh, look," a new arrival said brightly. "She's all helpless. Just like my father was."

"Dayna!" Servalan's eyes widened and she tried to step back, stumbling.

"I've been looking forward to this so long," Dayna aimed her gun at Servalan's head. "Can't run, can you." She grinned dazzlingly. "You could _try_ though."

"Dayna," Avon said warningly.

"Not sporting enough? Oh, come on, Avon. You said that if we killed her, her contract with Cancer would be off. Or didn't you mean that? You've got a soft spot for her, haven't you."

"I... most certainly have not."

"Good." Dayna looked back at Servalan, who was trying to inch backwards, smiled, and fired. "Right, I think we're done here. Unless I feel like taking out a slaver or two. I don't like slavers."

Avon, still looking down at Servalan's body, lifted his bracelet. " _Scorpio_? Get us out of here. Now."

Verlis dropped her drink with surprise as all three disappeared, then recovered her poise. "Benos." She pointed at Servalan. "Clear that away."

 

* * *

 

"So Soolin now owns Avon," Vila said with glee. "What do you plan to do with him? I've got a few ideas if you're short."

"Technically," Avon said, "as Soolin paid with Servalan's money, and she's now dead, I am free."

"Could've warned her that it's never a good idea to buy second-hand Avons. Unless she left a will. Y'know," Vila said with interest, "Orac might be able to find out who owns you now."

"Leave it, Vila. There are no slaves on this ship. That includes you two, Nebrox and—what is your name?"

"Olaf. I was to be freed when the performance was over, and I'd definitely say that it is."

"Freed from this life would have been the more likely outcome. We'll drop you both off at a nearby planet."

"Actually," Nebrox spoke up, "I'm used to be a pilot before I was captured by pirates. You could give me and Olaf that black ship and we'll make our own way."

"Now that Servalan's been executed—"

Dayna bowed. "My pleasure, Vila. And I do mean that."

"What do we do now, Avon? Orac couldn't access her account directly, more's the pity."

"Yes. I discovered that some time ago." Avon grinned suddenly, hit by a sudden and powerful realisation of freedom. "However I would say that it's a whole new game."


End file.
